Today’s update discusses:

• proposal from National Restaurant Association to Missouri lawmakers
• St. Louis officials offer PPE to small businesses
• order by district judge on St. Louis area businesses wanting to reopen
• lawsuit filed by St. Louis County Counselor for business defying stay-at-home order

LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

• Bars and restaurants in St. Louis have been allowed to sell take-out cocktails during the pandemic. Now, the National Restaurant Association has asked Missouri lawmakers to make the change permanent. This proposal comes just days before the House and Senate adjourn for the year. The Missouri Beer Wholesalers Association objects to the measure, stating “slid[ing] something in like this with no public input makes for bad public policy.”

RESOURCES

• St. Louis city officials announced that upon application, the city will provide personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, to small businesses prior to being allowed to reopen. Once a business applies, the equipment will be available as soon as Thursday. An eligible business is one located in the city with no more than 10 on-site employees.

EMERGENCY POWERS

• Last week, a district judge for the Eastern District of Missouri denied business owners a temporary restraining order that would have allowed their businesses to reopen. Judge Stephen R. Clark stated, “Government authorities must have the ability to maintain public health and safety in times of great crises such as these.” However, Judge Clark did not completely dismiss the complaint either, allowing it to be argued at a later date.
• Fitness gym House of Pain, with locations in the St. Louis western suburbs of Maryland Heights and Chesterfield, reopened its doors, defying the St. Louis area’s stay-at-home order. As a result, the St. Louis County Counselor filed suit earlier this week, alleging that the state constitution and laws “empower county health officials to enforce restrictions on businesses to protect the public health.”